THE WOOL CAMPAIGN

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 188, 11 August 1931, Page 2

THE WOOL CAMPAIGN

“Look at Airs Jones in her new jumper!” “Yes, looks as if she luu knitted it from a tapioca pudding cipc!” Punch dearly loves to have : joke at our expense but wherever knit ting appears on the horizon he posi tively gurgles with glee, states Home and Country, the journal of the New Zealand Women’s Institutes. You remember his famous drawing during the war of ‘Old Bill’s’ brothci and the mitts knitted by a dear olc —or young—lady in England whos< zeal to help win the war outran hei skill with the needles? That pair ol niits was unique. The number of stitches mysteriously increased until they finished up as an outsize even foi Old Bill’s brother who was not of small proportions. What added to the difficulty was that while both were large, one was much larger than the other We see the solution of the problem in , the drawing. Our hero is sitting contently over a fire in a benzine tin The larger mit he has pulled over hi> head, arranged so that the thumb opening is opposite his mouth into whicl he can introduce the stenn of his pipe and the other mit, drawn over his live feet acts as a foot-muff! We all knitted in those days. It waf one way of helping—and it was some thing to do. There is a peculiar sola<-< in knitting. AVomen hate sitting will empty hands. Even at- committee meet ' ings the women like to bring a bit ot knitting though some time ago at f London County Council meeting f woman member was ruled out of ordei for doing so. In these days, when there is something of the same tension in the aii as in the war days and we are waiting for the clouds to lift many women arc again busying themselves with soft lovely wools and flying needles. Spin ning wheels are coming out and when an Institute is lucky enough to haw a (laughter of Shetland, Danish oi Highland parents who still have the old wheel it is sure to have a fas cinating demonstration. One wonder.if wo have gone a step too far in oui progress. So many women seem t( have a longing to sit at a wheel am: spin. Our grandmothers li-vcd in calmer days. They had time to sing. Picturefly to one's mind of a woman sitting beside a cradle, rocking it with het foot while in her busy hands the needles glint in the sun and all the time she is singing lullabies to hei baby. Our efficient Plunket system hastopped that. As Jean sat- at her spinning-wheel A bonnie laddie he passed by.”—Mt see a young woman sitting in a sunlit doorway with her wheel—singing. Al milking, churning and weaving they sang. 'They must have found joy anc beauty in their work for only the happy heart sings spontaneously. Have we perhaps lost something in the terri fic rush of progress'? Who knows? A\ c may find it again. Me must use our own -wool all we can to help our own people. Never use anything else when you can use wool —it is cheap enough alas! —and perhaps we shall re-capturc something of that calm, happy life of a past generation when there was something in every woman of the lark “which singing soars, and soaring sings. ’ ’ More Ways of Using Wool Knitted blankets are very cosy am comfortable in all temperatures. Foi summer use they are light and open and in winter with a coverlet or quilt they arc warm and snug without bein’’ weighty. Use coarse needles, and knit throe strips and sew together. Thick self coloured blankets or trav oiling rugs embroidered in thick colour ed wools, make cosy quilts which arc equal to an eiderdown. How many knitters who find the cost of knitting wool a serious item know that it is not a difficult mattei to knit direct from unspun wool? Procure from the wool shed, or from scouring works the weight of wool required In the former case scour by soaking in strong soap suds and rinsing thoroughly; handle as little as possible while wet and do not wring. Tease the wool well and pick out any lumps oi knots. Draw out a little of the wool without detaching it from the rest, give it a little twist with the fingers. Knit this and continue to draw and knit, keeping an even thickness.